After a while, following Dalmatiya's orders, the soldiers handed out pre-prepared envelopes to each trainee and then dismissed them.
Leike and the others gathered together, eagerly opening their envelopes to see where they had been assigned.
Derek was the first to open his. He pulled out a slip of paper and showed it to the others: "G-8 Division."
Tina had been assigned to "G-11 Division," while Shun revealed "Chaya Island."
Leike tore open his envelope and unfolded the sheet of paper. His eyes widened as he read:
"Sabaody Archipelago."
"The Sabaody Archipelago?…" Leike twitched, surprised by the assignment.
Of course, Leike knew the Sabaody Archipelago very well it was a place of particular significance.
Besides being close to the Marine Headquarters in Marineford, its uniqueness lay in being the last stop of the first half of the Grand Line, right before the Red Line.
Because of its nature, the Marines could only "enforce justice" within a limited scope there. Beyond that, various dark forces ran rampant, and even the Marines were reluctant to provoke conflict lightly.
As a Marine descendant born in Marineford, Leike could hardly be unaware of this chain of islands. He had even witnessed their true state firsthand through other channels.
In short, the Sabaody Archipelago was a chaotic region, very different from other Marine-controlled territories where the Marines held near-total authority. Such order was unimaginable in Sabaody.
"Oh, Leike! You've been assigned to Sabaody too? Me too!" Berry Good exclaimed when he saw Leike's assignment. "What a coincidence! I don't have to worry about going there and knowing no one!"
Leike checked and indeed, Berry Good had also been sent to Sabaody.
Tina initially didn't mind, but seeing Berry assigned alongside Leike immediately sparked a touch of jealousy. She kept giving him glares that could "kill."
Berry broke out in a cold sweat. If the assignments couldn't be changed, he would definitely try to swap places with Tina.
After a brief exchange, each of them went home to prepare.
Leike, however, barely needed any preparation. His miserly father, Sengoku, was constantly away hunting Whitebeard, and even his older brother, Corazon, spent most of his time on missions. This time, Leike was alone at home.
He didn't mind. After all, it was only six months a perfectly normal duration.
Leike was actually quite satisfied with this six-month "internship," because it would give him a chance to test the progress he had made over the past six months.
In fact, during the latter half of the previous six months, he had deliberately held back his strength to avoid standing out and becoming "the target on the nail."
It was necessary. With the culinary cells in his body, training had not only enhanced his physical abilities but also awakened his culinary cells to higher levels. The higher the level of awakening, the more these cells nourished his body, rapidly improving all his physical attributes.
It could no longer be described as simply getting double results for half the effort.
Originally, his body's natural talent was only slightly above average. Among Marine descendants, he was fairly ordinary far below Derek and Smoker, and even below Berry Good.
If not for this unique circumstance, the original Leike would have remained unnoticed for the next twenty years.
Now, however, Leike possessed the culinary system, with ancient culinary demon cells still active within him. This allowed his growth to accelerate more than twofold, reaching levels comparable to the strongest monsters at sea.
Even his current batch of progress was slightly behind the previous two generations.
It's worth noting that past Marine battalions included super-beings like Momotaro, Gion, and Kuzan. Going further back, there were top-tier veterans like Borsalino and Sakazuki.
Though Smoker and Derek were considered prodigies, comparing them directly to those legends would be an exaggeration. However, with the culinary cells enhancing him, Leike's training speed alone rivaled that of these previous "monster-class" prodigies.
Yet, Leike was still not fully satisfied.
If he maintained this pace, in fifteen to twenty years he might become one of the few at the top of the seas.
Even if circumstances didn't favor him, he could at least rise to the rank of Marine Vice Admiral, wielding the strength of an elite officer.
That sounded promising.
But was it truly enough?
No, he didn't believe so.
In the next fifteen to twenty years, the seas would be turbulent and unpredictable. Even Marineford itself might be destroyed. Who could say what was impossible?
Who could guarantee they wouldn't encounter disasters?
Indeed, his generation of talent survived the following years, but Leike noticed something else within his youth camp cohort, many were as talented as Berry Good or Shun, and some could even stand alongside Smoker and Derek.
The problem was, Leike had never even heard of most of them.
What did this mean?
Yes, perhaps the limited number of characters in the "records" explained it; not everyone could be featured. But there was another possibility.
A darker possibility.
These people… may not survive the next fifteen to twenty years.
The Marines were a violent organization. During pirate hunts, they suffered heavy casualties. This was no secret.
From ordinary Marines to Generals, lives were lost every year.
Leike refused to leave his life entirely to the whims of chance.
He needed to strengthen his body.
He needed to grow powerful, quickly, strong enough that no accident or mishap could kill him. At the very least, he had to be able to protect himself.
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